Radiator-jacket.



J. E. ROBINSON. RADIATOR JACKET.

APPLLCATION FILED mac. 16. 19 1s.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

anmns E. nosmsoiv, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

. of which the following is a specification.

ficiency when the cooling water flowing- This invention relates to improvements in heat insulating devices for use in connection with automobile radiators.

It is a wellrknown fact that an internal combustion engine operates at its highest ef through the cylinder jacket is at approximately boiling temperature. If the water in the cooling system attains the temperature of boiling, .01 above, the'supply is rap idlyjdissipa'ted by evaporation, and as the supplyis necessarily limited in automobile practice to acomparatively small quantity, usually three to five'gallons, when this has boiled away the engine will reach a danthe lubricant and permitting the pistons to; expand. and seize the walls of the cylinders. On the other hand, it is not .des'irableto have the temperature of the cooling water,

gerously high temperature, burning out drop below a'j-poi'nt in the neighborhood of 175 degrees Fahrenheit, since the efiiciencyv of the engine will be materially lowered. A 0001 engine results in incomplete combus-,

, tion of the charge and in the wasting of heat energy through radiation which should have been converted into useful work. For the above reasons the cooling systems on automobiles are designed by the makers to maintain the temperature of the cooling water: at somewhat less than 212 degrees Fahrenheit, under normal working con-' ditions. It is common practice to in'ake the radiator cooling surfaces of sufliclent are};

to keep the "temperature fof the water som what lowerthan the most eflici'en't point,

as to insure against too'rapid' evaporation .1

This is the -very natural'tendency of, design,

since to p'ermit the water toattain' a'relatively high temperature, even though this might be the-most efiiclentymight, through carelessness or accident, result in damage to the en ine; whereas iflthedesig'n is such'as' to-normallykeep the'water at a point con siderably less than" the most efiicient point ithe* l ikelihood of actual damage is lessened though there is a material lossi inf -efiiciency and-power under normal oonditlonsgf "The average temperature atwhich' most offniotor readily attached to and ia or 'bile' practiee for storing and cooling a supv RADIATOR-JACKET.

, Srecificationof Letters P ten Patented Apr. 20, 1915. Application filed Deceinber 1c, 1913. Seria1No. 806,9'83.

vehicles are operated is,- of course, well ,above thefreezing point, and it is for. such an average temperature that the cooling system of acar is designed. When, however, the engine is operated at acomparatively low temperature, say for example freezing, 32. degrees Fahrenheit, or below, the heat generated by the combustion within the engine will be suflicient the water or non-freezing solution to a temperature above freezing, but is insufficient to heat it to a temperature even approaching the boiling point, and when the engine-.isnot running the wateris liable to be frozen.

' One of the objects of my invention is to providea device for jacketing the radiator of a motor'car in cold Weather so as to prevent too great radiationof heat and insure that the cooling fluid may be maintained ata temperature which will'be nearer that desired for mostefiicient working'than would otherwise be thecase. I r i Another object of my invention is to pro- 30 vide a device of this nature 'which can be takenfrom radiators of different forms with minimum alteration.

Another, object of my invention is to provide a radiator jacket of pleasing apvpearance such as will enhance rather than detract from the appearance of a car. v

Other objects will be evident from the following specification and claim. 7

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing my improved radiator jacket attached to the {radiator of ,-a motor car. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the radiator jacket with a fragmentary vertical sectional, View of the engine hood and dash board of a can Fig.

:3 isa fragmentary verticaltransverse sectional view on the' line. 33 ofFig..1. Fig. 4 isa fragmentary plan view'looking down upon the top of the radiator. Fig. 5 is a-I O fragmentary horizontal sectional view [on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a ,frag- 'mentary vertical transverse sectional view 'onthe'line-6% 6 of-Fig. 1. Fig.: (is a fragmentary perspective view showing. the'shut- 1 ter controlling mechanism, and Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical transverse sectional view'o'n the line 8'--8 of F ig.,1.

In thedraWings the numeral 1 indicates the outer'shell creasing member of a radisuchfias' is commonly used in automotomaterially warm 65 are usually of a generally polygonal outline and of uniform thickness. The rear face communicates with the interior of thehood which incloses the engine. The radiator is carried upon a transverse bar 3, the ends of I which are secured to the longitudinal chan-. nel members of the automobile frame, and i the starting crank is shown at 4as extending through the lower portion of the radi ator.

A flat plate or sheet of suitable material 5, the edges of which are cut to conform to the outlines of the radiator, is secured to thefront face thereof by means of a number of bolts, or screws 6 which extend through the cellular openings in the radiator. The outer edges of the sheet 5 are turned under as at 7 and serve to clamp and holdin proper position a sheet of heat-insulating material 8. This sheet 8 may be of asbes tos, or similar heat insulating material, and

is of suificient thickness to prevent the transmission of any appreciable amount of heat therethrough under normal conditions.

Two metallic strips 9 and 10, of width approximately equal to the depth or thickness of the radiator, extend from a point near the radiator filler cap 11 down over the sides.

to points adjacent the cross members 3. The edges of these strips are curled or bent under as at 12 and 12 to retain a strip of heat insulating material 13 as in the case of the front cover. For the purpose of holding the rear edges of the strips 9 and 10 in close contact with the radiator shell I provide a plurality of clips 14 of substantially S shape, one curve of which extends under the inturned edge 12 of the strip and the other curve of which is bent around the rearwardly extending lip 15 of the radiator shell. The front edges of the' strips 9 and 10 are held against the shell of the radiator by means of the L shaped clips 16,- the longer leg of which is pressed into contact with the face of the radiator, underlying the front plate 5, the shorter leg extending over the upper edge ofthe radiator and curved backward, as at 17, to engage with theinturned edge 12 of the strip. The engine hood 2 overlies the straight portion of the S shaped clip 14.

From the above it will be'obvious that the device may readily be placed on a car by properly outlinin the shape of the radiator upon a flat s eet of metal, curling the held by the rear edges 12. By bending the rearward ends of the clips 14 over the lip 15 of the radiator the side strips 9 and 10 are securely fastened and held in close contact with the shell of the radiator.

In practice the front sheet 5 may be made of zinc, tin, aluminum, Norway iron or other suitable material andsupplied in sizes sufliciently large to be subsequently cut to shape, to cover the largest radiator. The

side strips 9 and 10 may be provided in two or three sizes as the width of motor car radiators vary but little. The strips 9 and 10 are supplied with attached clips and with the edges turned inward to hold the heat insulating strip 13 in place and may be cut off to suitable lengths for radiators of variable sizes. The adaptability of the jacket and the ease with which it may be placed upon any radiator of usual construction is apparent. 7

In order that the capacity or the efliciency of the replaceable composite acket, as a heat 1 insulator, may readily be varied to accommodate the device to difierent atmospheric temperatures I provide an opening near the center of the front plate 5 and secure thereina register, or damper device, for varying the effectivearea of the opening. The edges of the opening in the sheet 5 are turned under, as at 18, to present a smooth edge and to protect the inner edges of the insulating sheet 8. A rectangular frame 19 with its upper and lower edges 20 projecting outward, perpendicular to the plate, is secured around the edges of the opening formed in the plate 5. A plurality of rectangular shutters 21 rotatable on their longitudinal axes have their ends 22 pivoted in the side 'members of the frame 19 and by mutual rotation on their axes can be placed either in interlapped relation, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby eifectually closing the opening in the plate 5 and preventing the passage of cooling air therethrough, or

in a horizontal position, as indica'tedin Fig.

6, so as to permit a maximum amount of air to flow through the opening. Short cranks 23, are formed near one end of each shutter bar, each crank being pivoted in the vertical rod 24 which insures the uniform movement of all of the shutters.

The vertical, outward extending walls of the frame 19 are bent inward to form vertical, elongated closures 25 and 26 the first to inclose the shutter cranks 23 and operatmg rod 24, and the latter to inclose the shutter operating mechanism. A crank arm 27, one end of which is drilled and fitted with a set screw 28 for connection ,with any one of the rods 22of the shutters, is pro-' vlded for operation of the shutters. The

swinging arm 29 of the crank is connecteding sheet 8 and front plate 5, and through a space between the cells in the radiator to a convenient point on the dashboard 32 of the car. A second lever 33 is drilled and fitted with a set screw 34, for connection with any one of the rods 22 of the shutters, its free end being connected to a spring 35, the other end of the spring being secured at 36 to a stationary part. The spring resiliently holds the shutters normally in open position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3,

the crank arm 27 being so positioned on one.

of the Sl'llltidl rods 22 as to cause the closure of the shutters on the rearward movement of the arm.

In order that the register may readily be operated and adjusted from the interior of the car I have provided a Z shaped bracket 37, one leg of which is screwed to the dash board 32 and the other leg of which is slotted, as at 38, to receive a T shaped toothed bar 39. The T shaped bar is provided at one side with a series of projecting lugs or teeth 40 and is connected at its base to the cable 30. The coaction of the projecting lugs 40i0 with the slot 38 permits the cable to be adjusted and positioned at any one of a number of points.

It will be apparent from the above that the shutter mechanism adapts the insulating jacket to varying temperature conditions. Thus for example the shutter operating crank 27, with its cable 30, may be positioned at either side of the opening and again the crank 27 may be secured to any one of the shutters thus permitting both a horizontal and a vertical adjustment of position. As a result the cable may be ,extended rearward of the hood, through the radiator on a convenient line, where it will not interfere with the engine mechanism and eliminate the necessity of using pulleys or other direction changing devices, the best of which are apt to become de-arranged and cause trouble.

Whereas I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention it is evident that many changes might be made in the design and general construction of the device without departing from the scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is V In a heat insulating jacket for an automobile radiator, the combination of a plate adapted to be secured to the front of a radiator, and having its edges turned in; a sheet of insulating material secured to the rear face of the said plate by engagement with the inturned edges; strips positioned upon the sides of the radiator and having their edges turned in; strips of heat insulating material secured to the inner faces of the said inturned strips by engagement with the inturned edges, and retaining clips securing the inturned edge of the plate to the forwardly extending inturned edges of the strips.

In testimony whereof Ihereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

, JAMES E. ROBINSON.

In the presence of STANLEY W. Coon,

MARY F. ALLEN. 

